Personality and thinking style in different creative domains.

The crucial aspect of creativity in both personality and thinking style may be the ability or tendency to change within personality traits, such as, for example, moving between extraversion and introversion, and within thinking styles, such as moving between heuristic and algorithmic thinking. Such mobility is characteristic of the “complex” personality. On personality and thinking style tests, complexity would be expected to manifest itself in greater variability of responses to items measuring the same overall trait. This issue was investigated with 158 visual art, 136 music, and 309 psychology students. Art students (visual art and music students) showed greater complexity in conscientiousness than psychology and music students, respectively. Visual art students further showed a greater overall complexity (mean complexities across personality and thinking style) than psychology students did. A more traditional analysis revealed that visual art students were more neurotic, more open to experience and more inclined to heuristic thinking than psychology students do, whereas music students were more extraverted and more agreeable than visual art students were, and more inclined to heuristic thinking than psychology students were. Thus, it was possible to distinguish visual art students from music and psychology students by their personality and thinking style. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Real emission and virtual exchange of gravitons and unparticles in Pythia8

Models with large extra dimensions as well as unparticle models could give rise to new phenomena at collider experiments due to real emission or virtual exchange of gravitons or unparticles. In this paper we present the common implementation of these processes in the Monte Carlo generator Pythia8, using relations between the parameters of the two models. The program offers several options related to the treatment of the UV region of the effective theories, including the possibility of using a form factor for the running gravitational coupling. Characteristic results obtained with Pythia8 have been used to validate the implementations as well as to illustrate the key features and effects of the model parameters. The results presented in this paper are focused on mono-jet, di-photon and di-lepton final states at the LHC.     

Methods to determine stratification efficiency of thermal energy storage processes - Review and theoretical comparison

This paper reviews different methods that have been proposed to characterize thermal stratification in energy storages from a theoretical point of view. Specifically, this paper focuses on the methods that can be used to determine the ability of a storage to promote and maintain stratification during charging, storing and discharging, and represent this ability with a single numerical value in terms of a stratification efficiency for a given experiment or under given boundary conditions. Existing methods for calculating stratification efficiencies have been applied to hypothetical storage processes of charging, discharging and storing, and compared with the rate of entropy production caused by mixing calculated for the same experiments. The results depict that only one of the applied methods is in qualitative agreement with the rate of entropy production, however, none of the applied methods is in agreement with the rate of entropy production and also able to distinguish between the entropy production caused by mixing and the entropy changes due to heat losses.     

Implementing laser-based failure analysis methodologies using test vehicles

Several test vehicles were designed in order to validate laser-based failure analysis and process validation techniques. Two vehicles concern defect localization in integrated circuits (ICs); the third one is designed for single event upset sensitivity study in digital ICs.     

Bridging the scales: A conceptual model for coordinated expansion of renewable power generation,transmission and storage

To analyze the challenge of large-scale integration of renewables during the next decades, we present a conceptual power system model that bridges the gap between long term investment allocation and short-term system operation decisions. It integrates dynamic investments in generation, transmission and storage capacities as well as short-term variability and spatial distribution of supply and demand in a single intertemporal optimization framework. Large-scale grid topology, power flow distributions and storage requirements are determined endogenously. Results obtained with a three region model application indicate that adequate and timely investments in transmission and storage capacities are of great importance. Delaying these investments, which are less costly than investments in generation capacities, leads to system-wide indirect effects, such as non-optimal siting of renewable generation capacities, decreasing generation shares of renewables, increasing residual emissions and hence higher overall costs.     

Analytical assessment of the load-carrying capacity of axially loaded wooden reinforced tubes

As a natural resource, an efficient use of wood should be also a requirement for structural timber design, but the usual structural solid sections do not achieve the required optimal behaviour. The performance of the structural elements (serviceability and strength) depends not only on the material properties, but mainly on the moment of inertia of the cross section. The Timber Construction Institute of Technische Universität Dresden has developed a process for the manufacture of structural wood profiles. The resulting profiles combine economy, an efficient use of the material and optimal structural performance. They are externally reinforced with composite fibres, which improve the mechanical characteristics of the wood and protect it from weathering. The available experimental tests to axial loading show the outstanding properties of this new technology. Herein, the preliminary model developed to obtain the axial strength of longitudinally compressed tubes is presented. Two different analytical algorithms are discussed and applied. The model adequately predicts the axial strength of fibre reinforced wood profiles. The analytical results are within an error less than 10% to the available experimental results, with a mean error ratio less than 3%.     

Vibrational Spectroscopies Applied to Chemisorption and Catalysis

Abstract

Vibrational (infrared) spectroscopy is often referred to as molecular spectroscopy to emphasize that it is the source of much of the known molecular-structure data, e.g., molecular symmetry, bond lengths, and bond angles [1]. Coupled with statistical mechanics, vibrational spectroscopy can also allow the calculation of thermodynamic properties [2]. Of course, catalysis is by definition a kinetic phenomena, and therefore it is noteworthy that vibrational spectroscopy has also been used to follow the transient response of kinetically significant (as opposed to stable, unreactive) intermediates on heterogeneous catalysts [3–5].     

Net integrity checking by optical localization techniques

To determine the failing net out of a list of potential candidates provided by the ATPG diagnostic tool, probing techniques such as TRE or LVP are commonly used. To use these techniques, complex electrical setups using tester have to be implemented to control the failing net to its failing value. This paper present an alternative technique to check net integrity and to orient failure location based on optical techniques. Experimental results and simulation presented in this study demonstrate the relevance and the efficiency of this technique.     

Extracellular matrix regulates apoptosis in human neutrophils

BACKGROUND: During inflammation, polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) migrate into the affected tissue interacting with extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins. We tested the hypothesis that PMN-matrix interaction affects PMN apoptosis. METHODS: Apoptosis of human PMNs was detected by DNA-fragmentation assay and was quantitated by flow cytometry, ultraviolet and light microscopy. Cell adhesion was assessed by a toluidine blue assay, and cell spreading was detected by phase contrast microscopy. Protein tyrosine phosphorylation was studied using Western blotting and confocal microscopy. RESULTS: PMN apoptosis was not different in unstimulated cultures on either surface-adherent fibronectin or on PolyHema, a surface that prevents cell adherence. However, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha) treatment significantly increased apoptosis on fibronectin (37 +/- 4%) compared with PolyHema (20 +/- 3%). Tests on other matrix substances revealed that the percentage of apoptotic PMNs in the presence of TNF alpha was 8 +/- 1% on PolyHema, 26 +/- 4% on fibronectin, 17 +/- 2% on collagen I, 16 +/- 2% on collagen IV, and 16 +/- 3% on laminin (P < 0.05 for all matrices compared with PolyHema). Preincubation with genistein (50 microM) significantly inhibited TNF alpha-mediated apoptosis on fibronectin (39 +/- 4% to 21 +/- 4%) but not on PolyHema (21 +/- 4% to 16 +/- 4%). Genistein also reduced PMN spreading on fibronectin. In contrast, inhibitors of mitogen-activated protein kinase and protein kinase C showed no effect on PMN apoptosis. Fibronectin strongly increased tyrosine phosphorylation of three 102, 63, and 54 kDa proteins. Five newly tyrosine-phosphorylated 185, 85, 66, 56, and 42 kDa bands were also visible. Using confocal microscopy, highest tyrosine phosphorylation was localized to sites of cell-matrix interaction. CONCLUSIONS: ECM influences apoptosis in TNF alpha-activated, adherent, spreading PMNs. The process is regulated by tyrosine phosphorylation. Acceleration of apoptosis may shorten the PMN lifespan and thereby locally regulate inflammation.